Township Wraps Up Brush Collection

Chatham Township Mayor Nicole Hagner said Thursday the should finish brush collection from in the most of the township by Friday afternoon.

"Certainly I think eveyone can appreciate this is something we don't do on a regular basis," Hagner said. "It was an unusual and very devastating storm to the town."

Some streets in town still had downed wires until recently, and the DPW could not get in to collect brush right away. However, Hagner said all streets, including "some isolated areas where we couldn't initially pick up," should be cleared within a few days.

"It's possible that they may not complete everything by [Friday], but certainly by the first half of the week next week," said Tom Ciccarone, the township administrator. 

"If we have come through, we're not coming back for a second [sweep]," Hagner said. For that reason she suggested the DPW leave the Tanglewood Recycling Center, which does accept brush and leaves, open for another full weekend.

Morris County crews were at work this week on Fairmount Avenue collecting brush from the county road, as they had previously done on Southern Boulevard and Shunpike Road. 

Green Village Road resident Christopher Struening said he and many of his neighbors still had brush outside their homes that had not been collected by the township.

"I spoke to someone over at DPW today and I was told the county was responsible for picking up brush along there because it was a county road. When I spoke to the county, the county said they had an agreement ... that on the county roads the local DPWs would be assisting in the brush pick-up from the storm," Struening said.

Hagner and Ciccarone said the local DPW did collect brush from Green Village Road very quickly after the storm. "We actually did try to come in and try to help them," Hagner said.

Struening said many Green Village Road residents did not know what day they should put their brush out. The road has no sidewalks and some houses, including Struening's, have fences that directly abut the roadway. "If I was to put the giant pile of brush that I got in front of my house, I'd cover half the road," he said. "Quite a few of us had actually stashed our stuff in [the] backyard."

Hagner said they would ask the county to come back for a second sweep down Green Village Road.

In other business:

• The committee approved a bond ordinance for the purchase of a WPC2 generator to service the . The current generator failed during the late October snow storm and needs replacing. The ordinance appropriates $75,000 for either a diesel or natural gas generator, depending on the committee's preferences when bids are placed and a final decision is made. If necessary, the committee will approve extra funds for the project.
• The committee approved an agreement to terminate a lease with tenants of the Averett property, which was purchased by the town earlier this year. The town will pay the tenant $10,000 for ending the 3-year lease early and refund the brokerage fees the tenant paid when the lease was signed. Also, the Averett family will send the town a check for the initial deposit of $2,400, which the town will sign over to the tenant.
• Dates for 2012 committee meetings were discussed, but not voted upon. Committee Member Kevin Tubbs asked Greg LaConte, the township clerk, to check meeting dates against religious holidays and the calendar for any conflicts.
• The township committee approved an agreement with PSE&G to participate in the North Central Reliability Project. Funds from PSE&G from the project amount to $140,000, and can be used to maintain recreation fields and bike paths, along with other municipal projects.